Operation: Bedtime
by andthenagainbegin
Summary: Killian tells the kids a bedtime story.


"Did you brush your teeth?"

"Daddy, I did like 10 minutes ago!"

"Just checking," Killian Jones laughs. He looks down at his dark haired, green eyed, five year old daughter and feels a swelling of pride deep in his chest. She is so very like her mother.

Hope turns and takes a running head start before launching herself into her bed with an audible _plop_. "Aren't you going to tell me a story?"

He raises an eyebrow before walking over and tucking the covers firmly around her. "Which story do you want to hear?" he asks.

"The Two Spies Who Fell In Love!"

"That one again? You know it better than I do."

"Please, Daddy, please!" She begs, adding about 20 extra e's to the end of the word.

He smirks for just a moment (it's so clear that she knows she has him wrapped around her little finger) before beginning, "Alright, alright, well, once upon a time…"

"Liam!" she interrupts, screeching the name at the top of her lungs.

There is a thump from the room next door and then Killian's nine year old son, Liam, stands in the doorway. Now the only one missing is his oldest, Henry.

"What?" Liam questions.

"Daddy's telling the story about the spies! It's your favorite!"

A huge smile breaks onto his face and he, too, takes a running head start and jumps onto the bed.

"Yay!" Hope screams and then turns her attention back to her father.

Killian begins his story again with, "Once upon a time... there was a man…"

"And a woman!" Hope fills in.

"Yes, and a woman, and they were both…"

"Spies!"

"Hope, are you going to let him tell the story or not?" Liam asks, poking his sister in the side and making her squeal.

Killian tries and fails not to look amused. "They were spies from different sides of a war, and they were both assigned very special, very secret missions: each other.

"Their missions were to take each other out."

"Like on a date?" Hope asks.

"Well no… I shouldn't be telling you this story."

"Again!"

"Yes, again."

"If you don't she's just gonna make me tell it," Liam says.

"Very well then… But keep in mind that these were dark and dangerous times. There was a great deal of fighting and no one knew whom to trust. You could make one wrong move, trust the wrong person, and end up in a heap of trouble. And so both sides created soldiers whose greatest tools were their minds. They were masters of disguise and the only thing they feared were others like themselves, other spies. And his mission, that day, was to make her disappear… for good. She was his mission, he was hers, but in the end she couldn't go through with it."

"Why not?"

"Because he was different than she expected, charming, honorable, devilishly handsome." Here Killian pauses to smirk. "It made her realize that all those years of working with her emotions detached hadn't been worth it, that maybe there was more to life.

"So after that fateful day, when they both failed in their missions to destroy each other, they kept in contact, went on the occasional dinner date, and soon they fell madly in love. After that it wasn't long before they knew they wanted to embark on the most dangerous mission of all."

"What?"

"They decided to get married."

"Wow!" Hope breathes.

"Now she was scared, terrified of what this could bring, for marriage is dangerous enough without being spies from opposing sides of a war. But whenever she saw him and looked into his eyes she was reminded of how sure he was and of how much he loved her. And so they said the most trusting words you can say to any person."

"What words?"

"Just listen!"

"I do," Killian finishes.

"Woah."

Killian laughs at his daughter's enthusiasm and chances a glance at Liam (he is unsurprised to find that they boy is as enthralled by the story as his sister).

"What happened next!?" Hope demands.

"Well, they soon realized that though they were mighty targets by themselves, together they were too tempting. And so they went into retirement, had a couple of kids, and faded from the limelight. The end."

"That's it? Every time it's the same!" Liam cries.

"Yeah, Daddy, that's a horrible ending! Where's the happily ever after?"

"Where are the monsters and the fights with bad guys?"

"They put that all behind them."

"That's lame!"

"You need to change the ending."

"But that's not how it happened. Now, bedtime, both of you."

They look very happy, but supremely disappointed in the conclusion he'd given them, as they shuffle off to bed. Hope lies back and pulls the covers up to her chin as Liam leaves the room.

"Sweet dreams, my love," Killian says, giving her a kiss on the forehead.

"Love you, Daddy!"

"Love you more," he says as shuts off the light and closes the door.

When he goes to check on Liam he finds him sitting in bed with his nose in a book.

"Don't read too long, okay?"

Liam closes his book. "Did that story really happen?" he asks.

"What do you think?"

Liam is quiet for a moment, and then he says, "I don't know."

"Something to think about while you try to go to sleep. Goodnight, my boy," he answers ruffling his son's hair before exiting the room.

Killian heads to the kitchen where he finds Emma standing at the sink washing their dishes from dinner.

Almost as if she senses his presence, she looks back over her shoulder at him.

"Hey, beautiful."

"Kids all tucked in?" she asks, unable to stop all the memories that flood her with his words.

He nods and makes his way over to her, winding his arms around her waist when he reaches her side.

He feels her sigh and lean back into him. "Did you tell them a story?"

"Yes."

"Which one?"

"Ours." He accompanies this with a kiss on her neck, a spot he knows from experience she finds irresistible.

Her sharp intake of breath encourages him to continue. He pushes her shirt out of the way and kisses a path down to her shoulder.

"You really should stop telling them that story," she whispers.

"Why?" He is now making his way back to her neck.

"That life is over."

"Is it now?" And he spins her around and kisses her soundly on the mouth.

She responds as he knew she would, with all the passion and fire that made him fall in love her in the first place.

When they break apart, she rests her forehead against his and breathily murmurs, "Do you remember that night in Copenhagen?"

"Do I remember it?" he scoffs. "How could I forget? Best night of my life."

She's quiet for a minute and then finally asks, "Do you ever miss the old days?"

"Not at all," he answers immediately. "Then we wouldn't have the kids, we wouldn't have this life… we wouldn't have gotten our happily ever after."

"'Happily ever after,'" she repeats. "Who ever thought that was possible?"

He just chuckles and leans in to kiss her forehead.

She turns to pull the plug in the sink. "Well, this is clearly a wasted effort." Ditching the remaining dirty dishes, she turns back to him and grabs his hand. "Let's go to bed."

He grins at the look in her eyes. "As you wish," he says.


End file.
